Back to the Past
by Suki59
Summary: This is the sequel to Back to the Future Again, but this one is very different. Sookie continues to travel through time, but things become more complicated with each trip.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Please read Back to the Future Again before starting Back to the Past.**

**Charlaine Harris owns these characters and someone else owns Back to the Future. Not sure who.**

As soon as Eric and I realized that we had ruptured the time-space continuum by bringing the Corvette into the present with no way of returning it, we decided that we should make it a priority to get it back to the future again. I had agreed to have Eric turn me, but we decided to postpone that particular event. As long as I stayed away from Hot Shot and were bears, I figured I was okay and we could wait. And since Jason wasn't even a were panther, the likelihood of my becoming involved in some were war was pretty much zilch.

So, I ran out to the pharmacy and bought some condoms and then came home to our cozy mansion to fill up a couple. I had learned the hard way to make sure and pack some spare fuel when I went for a ride in that thing. Then I showered and changed clothes and ate a big dinner. Eric drove me to Bon Temps where I found the undisturbed time-traveling car behind Jason's tool shed. I kissed Eric good-bye and promised him I'd be back soon. We decided that once I landed in the future, I'd have Pam escort me back through time and then she could return the car to the future where it belonged. So the present Pam had agreed to make herself scarce until she heard from us that it was okay to be seen. Once the car was safely back in the future again, Eric could turn me and we could live out our little happily ever after.

I was in the car, ready to go with a spare condom of fuel in my pocket (in a ziplock bag, thank you). I grabbed my boobs and watched a smiling Eric as the car surged forward through the bright white light.

I landed right in front of the Shreveport house and Eric came running out of the front door, beaming. "Sookie! I'm so happy to see you!" He kissed me and hugged me and gave my boobs a gentle squeeze. As we settled in the living room, I told him what had transpired in my travels gone awry. He called Pam into the room and gave her a good scolding for the shoe stowaway stunt. In Eric's time, I had only been gone a few hours, and he wasn't expecting me back with the car so soon. In fact, he was a little concerned that I may have returned too soon, but said he would "run some numbers," and see if it was okay.

I explained that because of the introduction of the futuristic shoes, that the present was actually much better now and that as soon as I got back there, I'd be turned and his future would be completely different—hopefully better as well. I told him how I had coaxed some fuel from a pre-revelation Eric even though I was a virtual stranger to him and that I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to get any more fuel. He said that no matter what era I landed in, he would always be relatively nearby because the car was designed to follow his DNA since it ran on his bodily fluids.

Pam agreed to escort me back to the present and then bring the car back to the future again. Eric and I went upstairs to his bedroom to make some fuel and I added it to the spare condom-full in my pocket that I'd brought from the past. We weren't taking any chances this time and we even decided to put Pam inside a light-tight body bag just in case we landed during daylight like I had before. I covered all our bases, going over the fabric and zipper-closure of the travel bag for Pam to make sure nothing was invented after the present that we were headed to.

I got Pam all zipped into her bag and put her seatbelt on. I was getting ready to empty a condom into the fucks capacitor when I remembered how gross my hands felt the last time I time traveled. I told Pam and Eric to wait just one second while I ran back into the house to get something to clean my hands with. I grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen counter and held it under the faucet to dampen it and then zipped it into another baggie, stuffing it into my other jeans pocket as I ran back out to the car.

I kissed Eric and told him I loved him before climbing into the driver's seat. Pam gave me a muffled, "All set," from her bag and I grabbed my boobs and turned the ignition on. We bounced along in the usual fashion for a few seconds…and then a few more...and a few more. I was getting extremely worried as travel had never taken this long before. The second we landed, I knew we had somehow seriously screwed up. I was panicked because it was daylight, and immediately checked that Pam's bag was securely closed. I called to her, but she was obviously in her daytime rest. I tried to tamp down the fear that was rising up inside me. We were sitting in a clearing in some sort of forest that looked completely unfamiliar to me. I reached into my jeans pocket to retrieve the emergency semen, because clearly this seemed to be an emergency. I felt the presence of human thought signatures just before the car door was opened and I was yanked out by my arm, the seatbelt cut away from me by a shiny knife.

I screamed in shock and looked around to see that we were surrounded by people, all yelling and speaking in a language I couldn't understand. They were all dressed in drab simple clothes—more like sacks, really, than garments. I tried to listen to their minds but their thoughts were in the same jibberish they were speaking. I watched in horror as Pam's body bag was dragged from the car and laid out onto the forest floor. I was being pulled away from her by a group of people but managed to look back over my shoulder and saw a man crouched over the bag. He produced a knife and I screamed, "No!" over and over as I watched him rip the bag open with the knife. The little crowd that had gathered around the bag stepped back in shock as the smoke started to rise from its contents. I fought with all my might to free myself, screaming and kicking and biting at the hands that held me back, but there was nothing I could do but watch as Pam's body burned in the sun until she was nothing but ash. I kicked and fought even harder, although I'm not sure why. There was nothing else I could do for Pam. One strong man grabbed me by my hair and pulled my head back, yelling into my face. As he got close to me, I tried to bite him. It was then that I saw him raise his hand with something metal in his fist and I felt the blow to my head, and then nothing else.

When I woke, it was nighttime. I was sitting on the ground leaning against a pole or a tree trunk, my hands tied behind me. My head hurt and I was wearing one of those simple brown sacks that my captors had been wearing. My heart sank as I realized that my clothes and the condom full of semen were probably long gone, and of course, I had no idea where I was or how far away the car was. I could smell a fire and looked around. Behind me was some sort of outdoor campfire in the center of a circle of small primitive huts. I assumed that my captors lived here, but where were they? I closed my eyes and listened with my mind, but heard no sounds. What I did feel was a vampire void and knew at the same instant that it was Eric. I felt his blood lust just as I saw him emerge from one of the huts, wiping the blood from his mouth. He was dressed in a similar fashion to my captors and I knew he would definitely not know me.

I tried to control my breathing as I watched him go from hut to hut in silence and it was then that I noticed several bodies lying beyond the fire. Had Eric killed all the people? And would he now kill me? I braced myself as he walked towards me. He stopped in front of me and crouched down, staring into my eyes. I tried to make my voice as calm as I could and just said, "Eric."

He spoke to me but I couldn't understand him. He slowly and carefully leaned in and licked my forehead, then sat back on his haunches again and continued to speak, this time gesturing to my heart and then to his. He felt the bond as clearly as I did and apparently tasted the blood on my head from where I had been struck. His voice was gentle and I was so relieved that I started to cry. He watched in silent fascination, touching my tears as they ran down my cheeks.

He reached around behind me and unfastened my wrists. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him to me. He stood, still holding me, and soon I felt my feet leave the ground and realized that we were flying, slowly rising and then just hovering above the trees. I looked down and saw the fire and the huts and could make out more bodies around the little village, but felt no human minds. We floated like that, just kind of meandering through air while Eric held me. I kept looking down and felt a surge of relief when I spotted the clearing with the car in it. The moonlight reflected off of the hood and I spoke to Eric, pointing down to it. "That's my car."

Eric lowered us to the ground and let me go as I opened the door, checking to see the condition of the car. It seemed perfectly intact except for the cut seatbelts. Then I stood and braced myself as I walked around to the other side and looked down at the torn body bag on the ground. I sat on the ground beside the bag and wept into my hands. Eric crouched beside me and studied the contents of the bag—Pam's ashes. He asked me something and pointed to the bag and I just nodded my head and cried. "Yes, she was my friend."

Eric wiped my tears away and pulled me to him, kissing me tenderly on the lips. I touched his hair and stroked his cheek and when he pulled back and looked into my eyes, I just said, "I love you so much." He whispered words back to me with a soft smile and placed his palm over my heart.

I gathered the bag up, careful not to spill the ashes and placed it inside the car on the passenger seat. Then I walked around the car and sat in the driver's seat. Eric was touching the hood, trailing a hand towards my open door and then peering inside, clearly with great admiration. He was smiling at the dashboard and then at me when he grabbed my face and kissed me again, this time a little more joyfully. I kissed him back passionately and then pushed his face away so that he was standing beside the car. I swung my feet out and placed them on the ground. My eyes never left his as I touched his knee and slowly ran my hand up his leg, beneath his garment.

Eric raised his eyebrows a little as I touched him, feeling his arousal with relief. I smiled as I pushed the fabric up and placed his hand on it to keep it out of my way. I never broke eye contact as I put him in my mouth and began to do what I knew he liked the most. He touched my face with his free hand and spoke to me in the language I didn't know. His words became more intense as his passion rose. I knew what I was doing after years of pleasing him and watched with pride as he began to close his eyes and roll his head back in ecstasy.

I fought the urge to swallow, but instead held the semen in my mouth until I knew he was through. I kissed the tip of his penis one last time before turning around and spitting the contents of my mouth into the opening in the console. As I turned back to Eric, he was staring at me with wonder and amusement. I kissed his hand and gave him a gentle push away from the car. He took a few steps back and I closed the door and turned the ignition. I grabbed my boobs and gave him one last look before I was gone in a blinding white light.


	2. Chapter 2

Without a seatbelt, I bounced around and hit my head on the ceiling. I gave up on holding onto my boobs and wound up kneeling backwards on the seat, gripping the back of the seat for dear life until I finally came to a stop. It was daylight again—seemed like early morning light, and I was in front of the mansion in Shreveport. I jumped out of the car and ran to the front door and started knocking on it. I knew Eric would be in his daytime rest and felt so incredibly frustrated that I couldn't get inside. Just as I started to turn around to go and check the windows, the front door opened and a middle-aged man in a bathrobe answered it. His jaw dropped as he took in my appearance in my little sack dress. I blinked and stared at him for a moment, wondering who he was, but then decided it didn't really matter. I just wanted to get to Eric.

I dipped into the stranger's mind and he was just thinking that I was some crazy women—what else is new. I pushed past him and ran up the stairs towards Eric's bedroom. I opened the door carefully and slipped inside so no light would spill into the room, and turned on the overhead light. The room was in perfect order and just as I remembered it from when we lived there in the future—the happy future where I was a shoe mogul and I lived with Eric. The future I was anxious to get to to be turned. But the bed was empty.

I pulled off my gunny sack and tossed it into the trash and stepped into the closet. One side was full of Eric's clothes and the other held mine. I saw the odd shoes lined up on the floor on my side and started to look through the hangers until I found a pair of old blue jeans and pulled them on. I dug through the drawers of the dresser that sat in the center of the closet until I found a plain white t-shirt and pulled that on as well. I didn't bother with underwear or shoes. I just wanted to find Eric.

I flung the door open and started into the hall and ran into the stranger who'd answered the door. "Where's Eric?"

He looked at me blankly. "Um…ma'am. I don't know anyone named Eric. May I ask who you are and what you are doing here?"

I listened to his mind and he was telling the truth. He didn't know Eric. I opened my mouth to speak when I was interrupted by a voice behind me. "Sookie."

I turned around and saw an old man in pajamas, tying the belt of his bathrobe as he emerged from a bedroom. "It's alright, Nicholas. I know this woman. You can go back to bed."

Nicholas nodded and turned to head back down the stairs. I faced the old man again. I recognized his thought signature, but didn't understand how it was possible. He smiled at me and held his hands out. "It is you. How lovely to see you."

He took my hands in his and as we touched, his thoughts intensified and there was no longer any doubt in my mind who he was. I gasped and whispered, almost to myself, "Hunter."

He led me downstairs and offered me something to eat or drink as if I were a guest in his home. I only wanted Eric and told him so. He smiled sadly and sat me on the sofa, settling beside me. The painting over the mantel was a landscape. I realized that he was probably confused as to why I was there so I started to explain myself. "This is going to sound crazy, but I came here in a time machine."

Hunter's face lit up. "So, it is true. Eric invented a car that actually travels through time."

"You heard about it?"

"Of course. He supposedly invented it when he was mourning your death and then brought you to him and convinced you to travel back in time and allow yourself to be turned so that you could be together. Such a romantic story."

"Yeah, well it's all true. I need to see him, Hunter. Please."

"I'm so sorry, my dear cousin, but he is gone."

"What do you mean? I need to find him." I looked around the room. It was the same room, but there were no photographs of me or of Eric, and of course, the painting was different. I was starting to panic.

"He's gone, Sookie." He took my hand and I heard in his mind that Eric was finally dead. I snatched my hand away and stared at him.

"It can't be true. The car wouldn't have brought me here. It finds his DNA." I felt the sting of tears, but just wiped them away thoughtlessly.

"I don't know all the details, but I can tell you what I've heard. Do you want to hear it?"

I nodded and stopped bothering to wipe the tears away.

"After he turned you, you lived here together for a number of years as the king and queen of Louisiana. But because of your telepathy, many other monarchs tried to steal you away or coerce you or even purchase you, but of course, you'd never leave Eric.

"Then one day you were kidnapped during the day by humans who worked for the king of Morocco. They slaughtered your human security staff and bombed their way in, damaging a part of the mansion that has since been repaired. You were taken and held against your will in the palace of the king in Casablanca. As soon as Eric learned of your location, he organized a contingent of Louisiana vampires to rescue you. Many weres and Weres also joined forces with the vampires because of their loyalty to you.

"They stormed the palace and there was a bloody battle for your freedom. Many were killed, including the king himself. It is said that Eric beheaded him as he sat on his throne. The Moroccans were defeated, but unfortunately, Eric was killed in battle. You returned to Louisiana with the remaining vampires and lived in this house alone before finally meeting the sun in despair.

"I was a still a fairly young man when I inherited the house and Stackhouse Shoes. Well, I share the company with Jason's children, of course. I have lived a rich and happy life here, thanks to your generosity. In your honor, I have left your living quarters just as you left them."

I silently wept through his story. "And what about Pam?"

He shook his head. "I don't know of a Pam."

"Pam Ravenscroft, Eric's child."

"You were the only child of Eric's that I knew of. I'm so sorry to have to tell you all this, Sookie."

I shook my head to clear it. "This doesn't make sense, though. He can't be gone. Why would the car bring me here if he's not here?"

"You said that the car finds his DNA?"

"Yes, he designed it to always find him because he's the only one who knows how to operate it. I can't get back to the past without him."

"Wait. I have an idea. Perhaps we can learn how to operate it ourselves." He stood and held a hand out for me. "Come with me."

We went out the front door and around the house until we came to what looked like a pair of garage doors. Hunter started to open one, but it was too heavy for an old man, and so I helped him. We walked down a paved ramp to another set of doors, but this time, I raised one myself. Hunter flipped on a light switch and we found ourselves inside a large windowless room full of work tables and desks. Tools were mounted on large peg boards covering the walls. There were five different computer monitors on the desktops connected to all kinds of equipment by tangles of wires. There was a thick layer of dust on every surface. "I don't touch things in here, but I have enjoyed looking. I have no idea what most of the tools are for, and there are these books." He led me to a stack of books on a table. One was open and I recognized Eric's handwriting in it. The pages were covered with script and small geometric renderings. I blew the dust off and read some, but it made little sense to me.

"This was his workshop." I assumed that this was where he had built the time machine. There were panels in the floor like I'd seen at mechanics' shops, so the car could be raised up and worked on from beneath.

"Perhaps we could decipher his notes and learn how to send you back. If not, we could hire scientists…"

"Have you looked in there?" I spotted a small refrigerator in the corner of the room.

"No, I told you, I never touch anything."

I walked to the corner and opened the refrigerator door. There were two bottles of True Blood on the shelf. Then I opened the small freezer compartment and there it was: a little ziplock bag with four used condoms in it. "We don't have to learn how to operate the car, Hunter. I know a way for it to take me back to Eric."

I held the baggie out for Hunter to see it. He scrunched up his face, trying to figure out what I had, and when he did, he smiled and looked at me both amused and puzzled.

"Eric's DNA. It's what the car runs on."

"I see."

I didn't want to spend any more time in this future than I had to, so I said my goodbyes to Hunter and thanked him for all his help. For the first time, I was a little bit afraid as I got into the car, not knowing exactly where or to what time it might take me. I wished that Eric was with me to set my course, but I had to trust that the car would take me to Eric and hoped that I'd find an Eric that knew how to get me back to the present. My trepidation was increasing with each trip through time and I wondered what kind of havoc I had wreaked by leaving my clothes and the contents of my pockets back in the time when Pam was burned up. It was all so complicated and over my head. What started out as a great idea to make me appreciate Eric more was quickly turning into a nightmare with severe and serious consequences.

I pulled the baggie from my pocket and retrieved an already unfrozen condom, returning the remaining fuel to my jeans pocket. After I'd filled the tank, I turned and waved a last goodbye to Hunter before turning around and sitting on my knees, grabbing the back of the seat. I reached back and turned on the ignition and I was off to find yet another Eric somewhere in time, but I had no idea where or when that might be.


	3. Chapter 3

When the car stopped, I was relieved to find myself in front of the mansion and in the dark. I ran up to the door and started pounding on it and calling Eric's name. He flung the door open and grabbed me, holding me tightly to him, kissing my hair, my neck, and then pulling back and kissing my face. I grabbed him and kissed him hard on the mouth and soon we were in a passionate and wild embrace. He finally stopped the kissing and pulled back to look at me. "My god, it's really you."

I nodded, grinning like a fool, so happy to see him.

"But how is this possible? What happened?"

"I'll explain everything." He led me into the living room and I sat on the sofa and looked over the mantel: I was standing on the bluff over the ocean again, and there on the floor was the giant bear skin rug.

I turned to Eric to begin my explanation when suddenly Pam came running into the room. "Sookie!" I jumped up and we hugged like sisters. I didn't remember Pam ever being physically affectionate before, but I guess she thought I was dead, and I certainly had mourned her death, so we were especially happy to see each other. "How is this possible? Is this some sort of fairy magic? Your feet must be cold. I'll get you some shoes."

"No!" She and Eric both looked at me puzzled. "No, thank you, I mean. I'm fine. I really just need to wash my hands."

They both followed me into the kitchen and just as I turned on the faucet, Eric grabbed me and yanked me away from the sink. "Don't touch that!"

"What do you mean?" I need to wash my hands."

"No, no, lover, the water is contaminated. Pollution has made it unusable for humans--dangerous for anyone other than a vampire to even touch it. They've invented a chemical process that will fix it, but it hasn't been installed into the system yet."

He opened a cabinet and handed me a wet-nap for my hands. As I tossed it into the trash, I turned back to him. "They just invented it? Some new chemical? And they're going to put it in the water supply?"

He nodded. I realized that must have been what went wrong when Pam and I wound up way back in time. I was so careful to make sure that her travel bag was made of already-invented materials, but the wet paper towel in my pocket (that neither Eric nor Pam knew I had) contained a newly-invented chemical in the water and I'd had no idea. Because of that one simple mistake, Pam had been killed and it was all my fault. Everything had gotten so screwed up and apparently, this would all end with Eric getting himself killed rescuing me in Morocco and then, of course, I'd kill myself out of grief.

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do to make things right again. I took Eric's hand in mine and looked into his eyes. "Eric, I need you to promise me something."

"Of course."

"This is going to sound nuts, but I need you to promise me that you won't invent a time-travel machine."

Eric's eyes grew wide and he shot a glance at Pam. "But, Sookie…"

"I know you've been sad since I died, and I know you've been tinkering with the idea of time travel so you could see me again. But you have to stop."

"That's how you got here. My invention will work and bring you to me." His eyes glowed with excitement.

"It's not fairy magic." Pam's eyes were as wide as Eric's as she spoke.

"No, it's not." I looked from one stunned face to the next. "But it will lead to very bad things. We're changing history, tearing holes in the fabric of time, making mistakes. It's messy and more complicated than you can imagine. Pam came back to get me to convince me to be turned, and it's been screwed up ever since—a tragedy, Eric. Please promise me you won't finish it."

I stepped closer to Eric and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I love you, and my love will never die, even though my body will." I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "Please keep me in your heart, and go on with your life. It's how nature intended, and shouldn't be altered, even though your heart is in the right place." Eric's eyes glistened red with emotion. I reached up and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Promise me."

"I don't know that I can." His voice was choked with pain.

I turned to Pam. "Help him."

She nodded, her face somber.

I kissed Eric one final time and then told him through my tears, "Wait here."

I left Eric and Pam standing in the kitchen and walked out of the room. I closed the front door as quietly as possible, but knew that their vampire ears would hear me. I wondered how long they would obey my command to wait, so I ran as fast as I could out to the car, fishing my baggie from my jeans. I emptied the contents of one of the condoms into the console and turned around in my seat to grab the back to hang onto. As I reached around to start the ignition, I saw Eric and Pam running from the house calling my name. Even vampire speed couldn't match time-travel speed though. I closed my eyes and sobbed into the seat back as I began to bounce through time once again.


	4. Chapter 4

When I landed, I was in my own backyard and it was dark. There were no lights on in the house. I pushed the car behind the tool shed and went to the back door. I turned on a few lights, but I seemed to be alone in the house. Everything looked familiar, just like it had before Pam ever came to visit me as a time-traveler. I opened the refrigerator and checked its contents and yes, I was out of milk, just like I had been on that fateful night. I put my baggie into the refrigerator and went into my bedroom.

I pulled off my t-shirt and jeans and ran a bath. Once I was all clean and cried out, I put on a nightgown and climbed into bed. I stared at the ceiling, listening for Eric's car and soon enough, I heard the motor. This time there were no headlights in my room though and soon I heard the back door open and close. So, did that mean that future Eric listened to my plea and abandoned his plans for time travel? I was relieved that Pam had not come to retrieve me, but I'd be lying if I said a part of me wasn't also disappointed. That meant that that brief and frantic encounter in the kitchen was Eric's only moment with me after I died. I cursed myself for running away in an emotional panic. I should have stayed and spent as much time with him as I could—didn't he say I could stay as long as twenty-four hours? I wasted what little precious time we had and ran away, leaving him in endless grief without me. Plus, I took away his hope for a future together when I made him promise not to try and bring me to him through time.

Eric stripped in the dark and got under the covers with me. I wordlessly removed my gown and pulled him to me. I wondered if this would be the last time we'd make love and he probably sensed my intensity. I told him I loved him over and over and before I fell asleep, I heard him whisper, "Are you okay?"

I nodded into his chest and squeezed him a little tighter. The selfish part of me wanted nothing more than to tell him to turn me—right then and there. It would be over quickly and we could be together, but facing what? I felt so overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster I'd been on, and couldn't bear the thought of being the cause of the people I loved the most dying. As badly as I wanted to ask Eric to turn me, I knew that the only way that I could be certain that he wouldn't die saving me was if I was simply never turned, but died a natural human death. I tried to stay awake and hang onto the feeling of Eric in my arms, relish his presence and bask in his love, but eventually sleep overtook me.

When I woke up, I ate breakfast and dressed for a normal day. I took my jeans and t-shirt from the night before, and grabbed the baggie from the refrigerator as well as my purse. I put the clothes in the car on top of the black travel bag that held Pam's ashes and emptied a condom into the console. I switched the time travel button to the off position and backed the car down to the driveway.

I had a place in mind as I drove. Once I was off the main road, I found a path through the woods until I came to the swamp. I took my purse from the passenger floor and got out. I retrieved the baggie and the final lone condom from my pocket and placed them on the driver's seat before saying a final good-bye to Pam's ashes. I only had to give one good push, and gravity did the rest. The car rolled down the little slope and slowly splashed into the swamp. I watched until the last bubbles popped up from my secret burial ground and then turned and started walking out of the woods.

When I got to the main road, I took my phone out of my purse and called Jason. I was sitting by the road when he pulled up in his truck. I jumped into the passenger seat and thanked him for picking me up.

"Where's your car?"

"It's at home. It's a long story."

"Well, I don't have time for a long story. I have to get over to Hot Shot right away. Right after you called, I got a call from Calvin and there's some serious shit going on over there—some kind of turf war."

I nodded. "I know."

Jason rambled excitedly the whole way to Hot Shot about the big were war that was about to go down. I discreetly took my phone out and sent a text to Eric: I will always love you. Keep that in your heart.

As we pulled up in front of Calvin's house, Jason told me to wait in the truck. He pulled a shotgun from his gun rack and showed me the hunting knife in the glove compartment. "Don't open the door. Use this if you have to. Don't follow me—there won't be many humans and you won't be safe."

"Okay."

I waited for a moment, watching Jason run around the side of Calvin's house and disappear. Then, I followed in his footsteps.

I heard the battle, of course, but the view when I saw the field behind the houses took my breath away. There were dozens of animals fighting—mostly panthers, but also some other big cats and wolves. Even raccoons and foxes were attacking the panthers in small packs and I watched a few birds of prey swooping down onto the panthers' backs. I watched Jason aim his shotgun and shoot a bobcat. Then he turned to aim at another when I saw the bear lumbering to him and knocking him to the ground. The gun flew from Jason's hands as he hit the ground and the bear was on his back, biting into his neck. I pulled my knife from its sheath and ran up and jumped onto the bear's back, sinking the knife between its shoulder blades. I stabbed it a second time and was poised for a third when it reared up, throwing me off onto the ground. I glanced over at Jason and heard his thoughts of fear and pain, so I knew he was still alive. I was on my back when the bear came at me, so I gripped the knife and pointed it straight up.

As the bear fell onto me, I felt the knife penetrate its chest and heard a groan of pain. The weight of its body was crushing me and I felt my ribs crack and couldn't breathe. I wondered if this was the end, but then the bear raised up a little on its legs and stumbled forward. I tried to push the giant bleeding weight off of me, but it was too much. As it crawled forward, my legs were freed and I began to kick with all my might. Even knowing my fate, my body didn't want to surrender and I continued to fight for breath. But the bear finally collapsed and the weight of its hind quarters was on my upper torso and head. My arms were pinned to the ground and I opened my mouth for air, but only tasted blood and fur.

I stopped kicking and tried to still my mind. The panic ceased as I focused on thoughts of Eric. I pictured him holding my face and kissing me, telling me he loved me with joy in his eyes. I kissed him back and told him I loved him over and over in my mind until finally there was nothing. I had given him my last thought, my last wish, and all my love to hold onto. And finally, I gave him my last hope that this would be enough and he could go on without me, but always keep me in his heart.


	5. Chapter 5

I had been working on the idea of time travel ever since Sookie's death. Actually, I'd considered it before, but never had the motivation to really put the theory into effect until I was alone without her and wanted her back. After a thousand years on the earth, you pick up a few things. The study of time travel was just one of my interests.

Pam knew what I was working on, but had little faith in it. She kept saying if I wanted Sookie back, I was looking in the wrong place. Fairy magic was more likely a way to retrieve her, but I hated fairies and wanted nothing to do with them, so I kept to myself down in my workshop under the house.

I realized that time travel was very tricky and that the fewer changes made when going back in time, the better. I simply wanted to find Sookie before her demise and get her turned, preferably by me. She couldn't be turned at the were war because it occurred during daylight. Yes, I knew that turning her was against her wishes, but I had had enough time without her to turn my undead heart even colder in that regard. I decided to go on the assumption that she was wrong to dismiss the idea of being turned. Humans never really can comprehend their own deaths anyway. The worst that could happen is that she'd be mad at me, hate me, meet the sun. I was willing to risk those things and hope that once turned, she'd find happiness with her new existence, and forgive me at the very least. Honestly, I hoped she'd embrace a union with me. It's what I was counting on.

I theorized that nothing from the future should be left behind and that nothing invented in the future should travel back in time (with the obvious exception of the car itself). I also had a theory that it would take roughly twenty-four hours (depending on the alignment of the planets) for past changes to take effect. Because of this window, mistakes could be rectified within twenty-four hours. Even if I couldn't go back and turn Sookie, at the very least, I could bring her to me in twenty-four hour increments without changing anything permanently. But, of course, that would never satisfy me long-term.

I was just up and dressed one night, getting ready to go down to the workshop, when I heard a pounding on the door. Very few people have the nerve to pound on a vampire's door and so I was curious to see who it was. I felt her just as I opened the door to find a frantic and beautiful Sookie standing on my doorstep. We had a celebratory reunion of hugging and kissing. It felt so amazing to have her in my arms again.

Pam suspected that fairy magic had brought Sookie to us, but I knew that it was more likely that my time machine was at work here. I listened to Sookie's pleas to give up my pursuit of time travel, but I wouldn't promise her that I would do such a thing. Apparently, some severe mistakes had been make which resulted in what Sookie called tragedies. She broke my heart all over again telling me that I should simply keep her love in my heart and not try to change her fate. It was a lovely sentiment, but I am used to getting my way and sincerely doubt if that is ever going to change.

Sookie mentioned that Pam had come to retrieve her at the beginning of the changes. I wanted to interview her in depth to find out more details, but she ran from the house before I could question her and took off in the car.

I immediately went down to the workshop and began to implement my plan. I figured I had twenty four hours to travel back and change things. I hadn't planned on beginning my travels so soon, but suddenly time was of the essence. My first decision was to go back in time myself instead of sending Pam as I had originally planned. I was more likely to run into myself at Sookie's house, but that just meant that I would have to be extra careful with my specifics to get the timing right and add a little luck in there for good measure. By the time dawn was approaching, I barely had time to fill a condom and stash it in the refrigerator before retiring upstairs for the day.

I always woke before Pam, and so she didn't see me walking through the house naked, nor did she hear the car leave in a blinding white flash of light. I used the fresh semen from the previous night for the first part of my journey and the frozen sample for my return was already beginning to thaw sitting on the passenger seat by the time I arrived. I landed perfectly in Sookie's backyard on the night before her death. I entered the house and found her asleep in her bed just as I had on many nights during that time. So far, everything had gone perfectly. The only variable that concerned me was that I was unsure of the exact time I would arrive from Fangtasia. I had to make an educated guess since I didn't wear a watch at the time, and even if I had, it was unlikely that I would have made a mental note of the exact time of my arrival to remember in the future.

My first instinct was to wake Sookie and make love to her, but I knew better than to waste time fulfilling my own immediate needs. I knelt beside the bed and studied her neck to find the perfect spot for the most efficient deed. As my fangs pierced her flesh, she let out a tiny whimper and stirred. I held her in place and sucked as strongly as I could so that it would be fast and as pain-free as possible. The instant I felt her last heart beat, I also heard my Corvette turning from the road onto her driveway and cursed to myself. Using my vampire speed, I exited the house and was gone in a flash before I could be seen.

Pam gave me a double-take as I walked through the room naked on my way upstairs, but she didn't say a word. I showered and dressed and then went outside and down by the lake to sit and contemplate my situation in solitude. I had done everything I possibly could under the circumstances, and now I simply had to wait to see what would happen.

During the time just before Sookie's death, she had expressed her wishes never to be turned, of course. When I left her dead in her bead, my present self was about to enter her house and would be faced with the decision of whether to turn her or not.

I had two choices. I could return to the past tonight—before the twenty-fours was up--and try to time it so that I would arrive a little sooner, giving me more time to turn Sookie. This would guarantee that she be turned, but it would also mean taking more risks. More things could go wrong. I could be off in my arrival time. If I was any later, I would run into myself and cause a temporal paradox, which I knew should be avoided at all costs.

My other choice was to do nothing and hope that my former self would be selfish enough to turn Sookie in spite of knowing her wishes against it. I imagined over and over in my mind how I would respond to finding her dead in her bed, but of course, I couldn't be certain of my former self's response. My current self had had the time to suffer her loss to set my feelings in stone.

I spent the entire night sitting by the lake agonizing over my decision. Just before dawn, I went to the workshop and filled a condom, knowing that I would have to act immediately upon waking the following night in order to be within the twenty-four hour window, and wasn't certain that I could even make it within that window. It was unusual for me to feel self-doubt, but that's what I felt. If my past self had respected Sookie and not turned her, and I couldn't get back to the past before I had killed her, then she was surely dead, but not from a fight with a bear. Her own lover had murdered her, and I would have to live with that mistake until my final demise. I fell into my daytime rest more uneasy than I could recall ever feeling.

I opened my eyes the following night and knew instantly that she was beside me. I felt her, I smelled her, and I felt complete happiness for the first time in a very long time. I turned to her and studied her face in the dark. I touched her lips and traced a line across her closed eyes with my finger. I gave her a soft kiss on her forehead before rising to shower and pull on some clothes.

I found a padlock in my office drawer and went outside and around the house to the garage doors. Just as I was pocketing the key, Sookie came around the house carrying two bottles of blood. She handed me a bottle and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "What's in there that needs a padlock?"

She clinked her bottle to mine before taking a swallow. "Nothing much. Just storage." I took a sip, trying not to stare at her. "I'll get in there and clean it out one of these days."

"I asked Pam if she wanted to go for a walk, but she's watching a movie, so it looks like it's just you and me."

I took her hand in mine as we began to walk around the house. "Where would you like to go, lover?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about around the lake?"

"Sounds perfect." We tossed our empty bottles in the trash behind the house before heading down to the lake.

"You keep looking at me funny tonight. What's going on?"

"Do I? I was just thinking how particularly beautiful you look in the moonlight. Have I told you tonight how much I love you?"

"Not yet." She had a little twinkle in her eye.

I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it. "I love you more than the dimensions of time."

"That's probably a lot, huh?"

"Yes, lover, it's a lot."

"I guess you'd know." She gave me a teasing smile as we headed down to the lake together, finally sharing a future side by side.

XXX


End file.
